This invention concerns vertical axis clothes washing machines and more particularly washing machines of the type having an inner clothes receiving basket and an outer tub surrounding the backet which collects the water from the basket during extract/spin cycles.
In typical designs of such washing machines, the basket is perforated to allow escape of the water and the perforations allow unlimited flow of water from the basket into the surrounding tub. The wash and rinse water occupies both the tub and basket during the wash and rinse cycles at the same level.
In an effort to reduce the volume of water required for a given load of clothes, some clothes washer designs have incorporated water saving circulation systems, in which water is pumped from the tub into the basket during the wash and rinse cycles to reduce the level of water present in the washer tub to thereby save this volume of water. The water in the space between the tub and the basket wall, not contributing to the washing action, may be eliminated without compromising the effectiveness of the wash or rinse cycles.
In such recirculation systems, the flow of water from the basket into the surrounding tub is controlled to be at a rate less than the capacity of the recirculation pump, such that the recirculation pump may reduce the level of water in the tub below that existing in the basket. This controlled flow is generally produced by a limited number of perforations located in the basket bottom.
In such an arrangement, an overflow is required in order to establish the maximum water level in the basket for maximum loads, as may be provided by a series of overflow openings extending about the upper periphery of the basket. These overflow openings also act to allow the water to pass out of the basket into the tub during the extract/spin cycles. The overflow openings allow flow from the basket into the tub at a rate when combined with the flow through bottom openings greater than the recirculation pump capacity such that the basket water level cannot exceed the level at which the overflow openings are located.
Many such washing machines also include balancing rings in which an annular cavity formed in the upper section of the basket is filled with a heavy granular material such as magnetite, which acts to balance the basket during high speed rotation in the spin cycle.
It may be desirable to establish the maximum water level in the basket at a point aligned with the balancer ring. The presence of the balancer ring makes it impractical to locate the overflow openings at this level. It would add considerably to the manufacturing expense of the basket if an existing basket design were to be revised in order to implement such a recirculation system. It would also be advantageous if such an arrangement could be added to an existing basket configuration.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a water-level establishing basket overflow arrangement for such recirculation clothes washing machines which allows the water level to be established above the level at which the basket overflow openings are located such that the water level in the basket can be established at a point where the balancer ring is located.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an overflow arrangement which is readily adapted to existing basket designs without requiring modification of the basket designs in order to incorporate the overflow arrangement.